Sydney’s dancefloor gods Pnau have been M.I.A. lately. Nick Littlemore’s been busy with his side projects which include joining the circus with Cirque du Soleil as Composer and Musical Director of the latest display of Quebec’s most bendy people Zarkana, and his (also circus-like) Luke Steele collab Empire Of The Sun; but get ready because he and Pnau partner in crime Peter Mayes are about to make their return to ubiquity with their fourth studio album Soft Universe due for release next year.
Pnau’s Artist Data profile says the new album “bears the influence not just of Empire Of The Sun, Nick’s award-winning, commercially successful project with Luke Steele, but of Bowie and Bono and Burt Bacharach as well as Pnau’s new mentor, Elton John. It feels big, ambitious, expansive – like a musical composed by U2, arranged by Prince and Giorgio Moroder, and based on the songs of Taupin and John.” Wow. I can’t decide if that is the best album pitch of all time or the worst. Time will tell.
Nick Littlemore says compared to their very popular self-titled 2007 LP the new direction “is poppier and more structured. We’re trying to move away from the club. Sonically and musically it’s all about having our arms as outstretched as possible. Hopefully it will reach around the globe, reach to the back of [the stadium].”
We’ll soon see if it does just that when they hit the stadium circuit in January for Big Day Out.
Watch this space…
